Flame coloring material



J. P. B. FISKE FLAME coLoRING MATERIAL May 25, 1943.

Filed Oct. 29, 1940 atented May 25, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FLAME COLORING MATERIAL Jonathan P. B. Fiske, Newton, Mass.

Application October 29, 1940. Serial No. 363,240

This invention relates to flame coloring material and more particularly to sticks or other easily handled articles prepared from such material and comprising a flame coloring agent incorporated in a carrier which, while solid at room temperature, is readily converted when placed in a fire into a liquid which spreads over and penetrates the logs or other fuel. The agent, preferably one or more chemical salts, e. g. the chloride, nitrate or sulphate of strontium, or barium, or the chloride or sulphate of copper, is thus distributed over the fuel, being caught by the cracks and crannies thereof, so that the coloring eil'ect produced by the agent in the llames lasts for a long time and produces a widespread i effect. The carrier may be any one of that class of substances which are solid at room temperature and melt into a liquid upon the application of heat. I have found paraffin wax gives superior results as a carrier, although other substances such as stearic acid or beeswax may be used if desired. I

Heretofore it has been proposed to mix the flame coloring agent with the molten carrier and then to pour the mixture into molds. However this procedure has not been satisfactory for the reason that th flame coloring agent settles to the bottom of the molten carrier. It is not feasible to stir the mixture constantly while pouring and even if it were the sticks in different molds would not be uniform. Furthermore it is not feasible to heat the carrier only to the point where the flame coloring agent will not settle rapidly because then the mix does not pour well.

The primary object of this invention resides in sticks or other easily handled articles formed from such material with the flame coloring agent confined largely if not entirely to one side of each article.

A further object of this invention resides in sticks comprising a carrier which, while solid at room temperature, is readily converted when placed in a fire into a liquid, and a coloring agent incorporated 'in such carrier, such sticks having a coating of paraflln or other Waterproof material upon the outer surface thereof preferably, though not necessarily, over the llame coloring agent alone.

These as Well as other objects of the invention will appear from a consideration of the following description and of the drawing which forms a part thereof, and in which Fig. l. is a plan View of the mold in which the material is formed;

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional View of the mold taken along the line 2-2 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the mold;

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the die block of the mold taken along the line 4 4 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a similarfview of the mold with which is assembled a charger unit for supplying the agent to the mold;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the mold with the agent in the cavities thereof;

Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 6 with the agent and carrier in the cavities thereof;

Fig. 8 illustrates the die block with an ejector unit and the blocks of material after ejection from the mold; and

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of a finished stick.

The stick I0 of flame coloring material consists of a carrier Il and a flame coloring agent I2. The carrier Il is preferably of paraffin wax and the agent I2 is preferably copper chloride in the form of particles incorporated with the carrier and confined largely to one side of the stick (the upper side in Fig. 9) The process by which the stick l0 is made according to this invention is as follows: a predetermined amount of the copper chloride in the form of separate particles is placed in a mold. The 'parailln wax converted by heat into a freely flowing liquid is poured into the mold on top of the particles until the mold is completely or substantially filled. While the liquid carrier readily fllls the interstices lbetween the particles of flame coloring agent the particles remain localized in the bottom of the mold because of their higher specific gravity. Since heated parafn wax has a tendency to set quickly when no longer subjected to heat, the particles of agent are trapped and held in the cooling mass.

The apparatus for carrying out this process illustrated in the drawing includes a mold 20 comprising a. die block 2| and a bed 22. The die block 2| includes a plurality of cavities 23, three being here shown, in which the sticks of material are formed, such cavities being open at both ends and bound by inwardly inclined walls. The bed 22 comprises a base block 24, a layer 25 of sponge rubber, flannel, plush, or similar depressible material, and a sheet 26 of non-adhesive paper, e. g., glassine.

The die block 2i is suitably clamped upon the bed 22 by the coaction of hooks 21 carried by the base block 24 and .pins 28 projecting outwardly from the die block. When assembled the sheet 26 closes the cavities 23 at the bottom. The hooks 2l and pins 28 are so located that when the die block 2| is assembled with the bed plate 22, thebottom surface of the die block is depressed somewhat into the upper surfaces of the yleldable mass of the layer 25 so that the bottoms of the cavities are tightly sealed by the sheet 26 to prevent, any escape of liquid therefrom during the formation of the sticks.

A charger unit 30 is employed in the feeding of the copper chloride crystals to the cavities 23 of the mold. That unit 30 comprises a box 3| having a plurality of pockets 32 in the base thereof and a slidable plate 33 held in close contact with the under face of the box by shouldered set screws 33 carried by the box and extending through slots 35 in the plate 33. The unit 30 is positioned on the block 2| by the reception of the dowel-pin heads of the screws 34 in apertures d5 in tongues 36 projecting from the sides of the block 2|. The pockets 32 in the box are open at the bottom and when the unit is positioned 0n the block register with the cavities 23 therein. The plate 33 in one position closes the pockets 32 (see Fig. 5). Slots 31 are provided in the plate which when the plate is shifted register with the pockets 32 and cavities 23.

A supply of the copper chloride crystals l2 is placed in the box 3| and the pockets 32, being closed by the plate 33, are lled evenly therewith, after which the plate 33 is pulled out to permit the crystals to drop into the cavities 23 of the die block 2|. The charger unit 30 is then removed (see Fig. 6). The carrier forming material, e. g., paraffin wax, having been heated sufliciently for conversion into a liquid. is poured into the cavities on top of the crystals. After the carrier has set in the cavities 23 the die block 2| is separated from the bed 22 and supported in an inverted position over a removable pallet 40. Suitable means are then employed to drive the sticks l0 out of the cavities 23, such as an ejector unit 4| which comprises a base 32, bars 43 secured thereto and pins fill. The bars 43 are so dimensioned and positioned that they will register with and enter freely the open lbottom ends of the cavities when the unit is positioned relative to the die block 2| by the entry of the pins 44 into the apertures 45 in the tongues 36. Sufficient pressure is exerted to depress the unit 4| and drive the sticks l0 out of'the cavities onto the pallet t0.

Inasmuch as some of the flame coloring crystals are exposed at the surface of the sticks they tend to absorb moisture in damp weather. Crystals being intensely hydroscopic, absorb suicient moisture from the air to cover, here and there, the surface of the sticks with a watery solution, and in the case of copper chloride, With green drops, which are very objectionable as they not only stain the paper box in which the sticks are packaged, but they stain the hands of any person using the sticks. To avoid this difficulty the sides of the sticks containing the crystals are painted with paraffin or other suitable waterproof material after they are removed from the mold. Bv

localizing the crystals ln one side of each stick as illustrated in Fig. 9 it is necessary to paint only the upper portion of each stick after it has been deposited on the pallet 40. If the crystals were distributed throughout the entire stick it would be necessary to paint all sides of the stick.

-This would involve painting one side of the stick1 waiting for it to dry. turning it over, and then painting the other side, thereby materially increasing the cost of production.

While one form of apparatusl for carrying out this process has been described in detail, it will be understoodthat I am not limited thereto and that other forms of apparatus may be used if desired without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claim.

I claim:

1. A piece of flame coloringmateriai comprised of a flame coloring chemical in combination with a carrier which is solid at room temperature and which liquefles when placed in an open fire, said piece having one side consisting of the carrying material only, and the opposite side consisting of a mixture of said carrier and said chemical.

2. A piece of 'flame coloring material cornprising flame coloring chemical in combination with a carrier which is solid at room temperature and which liquefles when placed in an open re, the bottom of the piece being wider than the top, the bottom comprising carrier only and the top comprising a mixture of said chemical and carrier.

3. A stick of flame coloring material comprising a llame coloring chemical in combination with a carrier which is solid at room temperature and which liquefies when placed in an open fire, the chemical being localized at one side of the carrier and a coating of waterproof material applied to the surface of the stick upon that side of the carrier.

4. A stick of flame coloring material comprising a flame coloring chemical in combination with a carrier which is solid at room temperature and which lquenes when placed in an open fire, the chemical being localized at one side of the carrier and a coating of paraffin applied to the surface of the stick over the chemical at that side of the carrier.

5. A stick of llame coloring material comprising a flame coloring chemical in combination with a carrier which is solid at room temperature and which lquefies when placed in an open fire, the chemical being localized at one side of the carrier and a coating of paraffin applied upon the outer surface of said stick.

6. A stick of flame coloring material comprising a ame coloring chemical in combination with a carrier which is solid at room temperature and which liquees when placed in an open lire, the chemical being localized at one side of the carrier and a coating of waterproof material applied upon the outer surface of said stick.

7. An elongate stick of llame coloring material comprising flame coloring chemical in combination with a carrier which is solid at room temperature and which liquefles when placed in an open fire, the stick being wide at the bottom and narrow at the top and the flame coloring material being concentrated in the narrow top. whereby the stick seats solidly on a log and as the stick melts the flame coloring material is well distributed over the log.

JONATHAN P. B. FISKE. 

